Pack Your Kid’s Back To School Credit Lunch

It’s time you sit your kids down and give “the talk.” 🤨 🐝🌷

Not THAT talk! 🤣

It’s “the talk” about credit!

We know what you’re thinking. It’s too early to talk to my kids about credit—it’s not. ❌ Talking to your kids in their teenage years about credit is valuable, and they’ll use that knowledge as they get older. 💪 You’re setting them up for success, and it’s better they know about it sooner rather than later. 💯

Think of it as packing their lonche for them. You put love and care into packing the food in their lonche and say a little bendición as they go off to school. 🙏 It’s the same with educating them about credit. You’re packing financial education into their lives that will help them succeed. 📚

The first way to help pack their credit lonche is to educate them about credit and teach them about good financial habits. ❤️ Your kids mostly only know credit as the card you use to buy food and online shopping. 💳 But, as we know, it’s so much more than that. Credit scores are essential to renting an apartment, buying a car, and eventually, buying a house. 🏢🚙🏡 Teach them that paying your bills on time is the best way to build a good credit score. Developing good financial habits in your kids when they’re young is empowering them to be financially literate when they start to go to college and move out of the house.

Second, make your kid an authorized user on your credit card. YES—you can put your child at any age on your credit card! This means that you’re helping them build their own credit so by the time they’re ready to open up their own credit card, they already have strong credit they can use. 🙌 Setting your kid as an authorized user is simple and only benefits your child’s finances. BUT, you have to make sure you’re making your own payments on time. 😎

Lastly, become a cosigner for when they need it. ✍️ When your kid grows up and leaves the casa (😭), they’ll most likely need a cosigner when they apply for an apartment. A lot of times parents won’t sign the co-sign, leaving the child behind or forcing them to go an alternate route. As long as you trust your child to make payments on time, cosigning for them should be easy. 👍

All these tips are the ingredients needed to pack the ultimate credit lonche for your kids. 😁 It’s the frijoles and tortillas they need to grow their financial literacy and credit strength. 💪 To learn more about how to help your kids build credit, check out this article by The Ascent.